Mr. Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, will open a seminar devoted to strengthening France’s economic presence in South-East Asia tomorrow morning.

This seminar, organized Mr. Philippe Varin, Special Representative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development for ASEAN, will provide an opportunity for exchanges between 60 or so French business leaders, the French ambassadors in the region, the other government departments concerned and representatives of Business France.

The work will focus in particular on the tourism, electrical power generation, sustainable city, health, agri-food, communication, maritime and cultural industries sectors. It will involve defining concrete measures to promote France’s economic interests in this market of almost 650 million people, which, with a growth rate of 5.5% in 2013, is rapidly expanding.